PineBridge Investments (PineBridge) a global asset manager focused on active, high conviction investing, has launched the PineBridge China A-Shares Quantitative Fund.
The Fund seeks to give global investors access to the domestic equity market in China through a quantitatively managed, active equity strategy that invests in equity and equity-related securities connected to the economic development and growth of China. As one of the only UCITS products in the market to adopt a quantitative approach to Chinese equities, the Fund aims to deliver alpha through the combination of local knowledge and a systematic investment process.
The Fund is managed by PineBridge Investments Asia Ltd, with investment advice from Huatai-PineBridge Fund Management Co., an onshore Shanghai-based joint venture between PineBridge and Huatai Securities established in 2004. Huatai-PineBridge manages US$16 billion1 in assets under management and is one of the largest active quantitative managers in China.2 Huatai-PineBridge’s active quantitative team is one of China’s most established, supported by 34 onshore fundamental investment professionals, and trading execution, compliance, risk and operations teams. In addition, Huatai-PineBridge manages an onshore ETF business, featuring one of the largest and most liquid China A Shares ETFs in the world.
“International index inclusion and continued economic liberalisation in China are expected to drive substantial flows and increasing allocations towards China A-shares. The large and liquid domestic A-shares market aims to offer attractive, long-term return opportunities from China’s growth and innovation, and finding the most attractive stocks in this dynamic market requires an established local presence,” says Anik Sen, Global Head of Equities, PineBridge Investments. “The onshore universe presents extraordinary alpha opportunities and we are thrilled to bring investors the combination of PineBridge’s strength in Asia and Huatai-PineBridge’s investment expertise in Mainland China.”
Huatai-PineBridge’s Deputy General Manager, Chief Investment Officer of Quantitative investment, and Portfolio Manager, Hanqing Tian, says: “With over 21 years of experience and more than 10 years of track record in managing active quant strategies, we believe that a disciplined approach that identifies and targets performance drivers, while navigating unique investor behaviours and market risks, can deliver consistent risk-adjusted returns. For this reason, our process unites a quantitative approach underpinned by fundamental signals and views.”
The Fund’s reference index, the MSCI China A International Total Return Net Index, reflects the opportunity set of China A-shares for the international investor taking into consideration the progressive A-share inclusion and foreign ownership limits. MSCI’s methodology has been at the forefront of the gradual inclusion of onshore Chinese equities into investor portfolios around the world and the index universe includes both large- and mid-caps, representing a broader equity market set.
“The further weight increase of A-shares in the MSCI indices is a significant milestone for the opening of China’s capital market,” says Jack Lin, Managing Director and APAC Head of Client Coverage at MSCI, “We are pleased that PineBridge has chosen MSCI China A International Total Return Index as the reference benchmark for their new fund.”
The PineBridge China A-Shares Quantitative Fund is domiciled in Ireland and registered for sale across Europe.4
